The compact disk (CD) and digital video disk (DVD) are leading portable digital media storage devices. Hundreds of millions of disks are produced each year. These disks are used to store digital media files including, but not limited to movies, television shows, music, music videos, video game software, productivity software and a wide array of additional file types and file formats. These disks are available in pre-recorded, recordable and rewritable formats.
Consumers may rent or purchase media disks from kiosks. These kiosks include a number of storage bays for storing the disks. Storage bays typically accommodate storage of the disks in protective disk cases. A robot within the kiosk captures a selected disk in a storage location and transports the disk to dispense and retrieve port in the kiosk. The robot also collects a returned disk from the dispense and retrieve port and transports the returned disk to a predetermined storage location.
When the robot fails and the failure cannot be remedied from a remote location, e.g., there should be a disk in the robot but there isn't, kiosk owners must typically schedule a service call. A technician visits the kiosk, determines the problem with the robot, and fixes the problem.
However, service calls are expensive. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method of handling errors and troubleshooting problems in entertainment kiosks which minimizes servicing costs.